Oh What a World
by TheFlyingGraysons4everFall
Summary: In a world without Batman, what will Robin do when a rip in dimensions appears and suddenly there is one? Rated T for realistic themes. As realistic as you can get with DC that is.
1. Portal

**A/N: I told you it would come out soon! Here it is. I hope you like the story as much as I do. I'll put on my best thinking cap to bring you good chapters.**

**DISCLAIMER: DC COMICS ARE OWNED BY DC COMICS! How weird is that? Huh.**

* * *

Batman was in no mood to be trifled with. He had been awake for the past five days without a wink of sleep, all the while having to deal with the Riddler, Two-Face, Joker, and to top of his Friday, a brainwashed Justice League. It was now Saturday, and he finally admitted to himself that he was going to drop if he didn't get at least two hours of sleep. He pulled down his cowl to rub his face before taking it off completely. He would have peeled off the rest of his kevlar if a persistant beeping hadn't stopped him.

"What?" He growled. If they kept him from the comfy bed calling to him upstairs, he was going to bust Joker out of Arkham just to beat him again. _But I would settle for Superman_, he thought darkly as said man began speaking over the comm. unit.

"Batman, I need your expertise on something." A strange loud noise in the background forced the man of steel to shout.

Bruce grit his teeth until he was sure they would crack. "I'm a little busy, Clark."

The Dark Knight could feel the annoyed disbelief coming from his colleague. "I already checked the JL chatter and news feeds for Gotham. I'm one step ahead of _you_ this time. You are not doing anything. This is a matter of global security."

Sighing, Batman accepted the fact that the universe was plotting against him. "Fine. But Clark?"

"Yes?"

"If you are blowing things out of proportion again, I won't hesitate to use my kryptonite."

The multi-billionare could feel the smug smile coming from the cursed alien. "Sure, Batman. Sure."

* * *

Robin stared at the Team. They were all watching the news with worried expressions. They tried to hide it when the zeta announced his arrival, but he just walked over calmly. His masked eyes narrowed at the guilty group of teens. He was in no mood to be trifled with. Just where did they think he'd been these past two weeks? Up for three days without sleep. He'd tried (and failed) to convince Bruce to let him out in the field more, that he could handle it, but exhuastion got the better of him. What he hadn't told his guardian was that he had been having nightmares recently. They ranged from the normal (Dick hated to call them normal, but by all definitions, they were) visions of his parents to Bruce dying, to him being benched from vigilantism permanently.

He still felt guilty when he had fallen asleep in his room during a break from the rooftops and crime. Bruce had let him be and suited up to go out alone. So no, Robin was _definitely_ not in the mood for their antics.

"Wallace West, hand me the remote before I'm forced to take it from you." He ground out. Everyone was shocked at his demenor and angry voice. They were used to seeing his carefree, childish mask. They didn't even let it cross their minds that he could be this angry.

Slowly, the speedster handed him the remote. He flicked on the T.V. and watched the news play with the very annoying Vicki Vale reporting.

"I'm here with an amazing story. As you can see behind me, there seems to be some sort of portal. Batman and Superman seem to be the only members of the Justice League present at the moment." The journalist had to yell to make herself heard as the "portal" emitted a strange, indescribable sound. Somewhere between high pitched sound when your tea is ready and when your television decides to go fuzzy on you. Even though she was probably twenty yards away, it seemed determined to outdo her voice. Personally, Robin rooted for the portal.

"It seems to be a recon for the moment, and only to gather intelligence, but for now it is safe to assume that the portal is non-lethal, and of no threat. It seems to have appeared around six this morning as reported by eye witnesses. The question on our mind our mind: Where does it lead?"

Robin turned it off. He was pissed. "Dammit, Superman!"

He could feel the curirous eyes of the rest of heroes rest on him as he zeta beamed himself back to the Batcave.

* * *

Superman looked expectedly at his friend (though that friend would never admit they were). He had been at it for some forty- five minutes.

"So, is it hostile?"

Batman didn't look up from his holo-glove. He simply continued to tap certain parts of a weird looking algorithems and type in different informatioin. "You do realize it's pure energy, right? There is nothing hostile about it."

Superman just narrowed his eyes, intent about defending his question. "Captain Atom is pure energy. And nuclear energy is harmful."

The scowling defender of Gotham finally looked up from the screen. "Captain Atom was a human being first. Nuclear energy is not pure if it's harmful. We're done."

Clark began glaring. "No, you have no right to try to make me look like an imbecile."

For the first time since he arrived, Batman actually smirked. "I don't try, Clark. And I was talking about the analysis of the energy."

He was sorely tempted to use his heat vision on the guy. But he looked over at the small rip of purpley- blue(ish) energy. It was pulsing.

"Was it doing that before?"

Batman's eyes widened a fraction before his holo-pad started blinking red with the words STRUCTURAL ERROR.

Always the hero, Bruce tried to push him out of the way before a pulling sensation in his gut started.

* * *

**A/N: How was the intro? Good? I was thinking about it as I wrote this and realized that most authors who try to juggle too many things at once usally let one slip. Well, I won't let you down. Updates for Possession won't be regular. Or for any others really. But they will be completed. So rest assured and REVIEW!**

***holds up three year old Dick Grayson* Seriously. Don't make him cry.**

**Dick: *single tear falls down chubby face***

**Me: *grasps chest* Not again! *looks to incredibly adorable toddler* I'm gonna have to stop using you.**


	2. Meeting Robin?

**A/N: Just a heads up, this is not going to be like Possession where I try to incorporate as many POVs from various characters. This will have more focus on three:**

**(AU) Robin**

**Batman**

**Superman**

**I might have a few Deathstroke and maybe some Earth Six Robin (to see how Batman's disappearance affects him) but just know that they will be a majority of the story's POVs.**

**DISCLAIMER: No way could I buy out DC. It belongs to them.**

* * *

Robin had been minding his own business, beating up some thugs. The normal routine. He kept seeing the shadow of _him_ on the rooves watching him fight, so he tried all the harder to impress him. The cops had showed up at the usual time: Too Late, and Robin had been out of there no one the wiser. Though it was a little cocky of him to burn the insignia on that one scum's face last week. Even then, the cops were clueless. He would be proud. It was normal patrol as always. The comforting shadow still following him. Suddenly there were no shadows. A bright flash of light had Dick closing his eyes tightly behind his mask. Blinking away the spots, he looked to see one passed out muscular man in blue tights with a giant "S" shaped bullseye on his chest and one awake and stoic looking man in kevlar. While the S idiot was all brightly dressed in blues and reds ( how in the Hell did he manage to sneak up on anyone?) the other man was way more toned down with blacks and grays. A smaller bat adorned his chest. Pointy ears on top made the child inside want to giggle, but Robin couldn't afford to be a child. He swallowed the giggle and continued to analyze.

The concious one just looked annoyed with the big one. Tapping his glove he pulled up a holo-screen.

"So cool.." Robin couldn't help but whisper. The dark one looked right at where Dick was currently oggling and he sunk back deeper into the shadows on instinct. The muscly man narrowed his eyes. But instead of going up to the boy's hiding spot he focused back on the holo-glove. The vigilante couldn't help but feel that it wasn' t ignorance so much as it was ignoring. It was exactly what he would do. If it became a problem, he'd deal with it. Until then, he had bigger fish to fry. Robin 101.

The blue idiot stirred and began to open his eyes. He gave a small groan.

_This guy really doesn't know how to be stealthy. Not to mention showing weakness._ Robin rolled his eyes. It was only then that he realized that his shadow had moved closer in a somewhat protective manner. The smart one said something to the dumb one and soon enough he was scanning the area and his gaze fell upon the boy. There was no way he could see him! Dick was completely immersed in shadow.

After a moment his gaze left the Boy Wonder and the two of them started to have a very quiet conversation. He strained his ears to hear what they were saying, but to no avail. Soon the darkly dressed one was shaking his head slightly. An almost inperceptible movement. Almost. It seemed that the other one had no intention of taking the order. No matter how it might have been percieved by others, that is what it was. A direct order. In a flash the blue idiot was floating sver him and his dark perch.

What he didn't expect was for the other man to be as shocked as himself.

"Robin?"

* * *

Clark wanted to do a double take. There, crouching in the darkness was the unmistakable Robin. Sure his costume was strange, but the "R" over his heart and the facial features were the same. This was Robin. Just not his Robin.

First off, he was younger. Probably ten or so. Second,his costume. It was similiar to the one his Robin had, but also very diferent. The tunic had grey longsleeves and the gloves that overlapped it green, as were the boots. Going down the tunic were small yellow straps in the middle, which was red. The sides however, were black. The red continued into a loincloth over his pants. He wore a cape, but the cape was attached to a hood lined with red which he wore over his head. Around his midsection was a toolbelt that was silver instead of yellow and had a bird etched on the buckle. His pants were the same shade of grey as his sleeves. Even the "R" was different. It was smaller and jagged, the slanted leg of the letter falling out of the small black circle in which the rest of it was placed.

Without thinking he reached out a hand...

Only for it to be cut by a wide eyed boy with a sharp bird-a-rang. The metal weapon now had a small portion of his blood on it. The scared boy backed away.

"Wait! I'm sorry if I scared you. Please come back down with me."

Scared though he was, he managed a cynical look at the (unharmed) offered hand. Superman tried a tactic that had always worked with his Robin.

"I'll fly you down."

The masked eyes widened. "You can fly?" He whispered in awe. The superhero nodded and gave a gentle smile. Still cynical, he slowly reached out for Clark's hand. He put out his other (now already healed) hand. Robin gave him his other hand; a little bit faster than the first. Superman flew up towards the stars until the Boy Wonder's feet no longer touched the roof before swooping towards Batman. To his friend's credit, he controlled his reaction much better than he himself had. A slight widening of the eyes before he became like stone once again.

_Is that the only part of their face Bats are allowed to show emotion with? _He thought annoyedly.

* * *

Batman looked at his partner's alternate dimensional counterpart. One question popped up in his head immediately:

_Where am I__?_

The tyke didn't look too afraid of him, so he supposed that had to mean something.

"Hey, kid?"

Robin glared. "I'm not a kid."

Batman controlled the urge to roll his eyes. "Robin, where is Bruce?"

It might be useful to crosscheck data with _his _counterpart. Sadly, he had been through this kind of situation more often than most heroes. He knew exactly who to go to.

The boy however looked confused. "Whose Bruce?"

_Never a good sign..._

"Bruce Wayne? He's the richest man in Gotham."

"Never heard of him. Besides, the only _really_ rich guy around here lives in Metropolis."

Metropolis? What the hell kind of universe did he land in?

"Who?"

Robin looked at him like he was an idiot. "Lex Luthor. Who else?"

* * *

**A/N: BUM BUM BUM! All will be revealed in the next chapter! Well, not _all_. Then there would be no point in continuing. Let's try this again. Some will be revealed in the next chapter! Please tell me how you like it so far in the reviews! Quick question for you all:**

**I'm a little torn on the time shift of dimensions, so I want to ask what you as a reader would prefer:**

**A.) No Time Shift**

**B.) Each day on Earth Six is a month in the other**

**C.) Each day on Earth Six is two days in the other**

**D.) Whatever idea you have for the time skip**


	3. It's Like We're Worlds Apart

**A/N: Are you pumped?! I am! Let's go! I'm really excited to see how you guys feel about it! Oh. One thing. How I said I would have this as a somewhat apprentice fic? I guess I lied! The only way I can see this ending if it was an apprentice fic is pretty damn depressing, and I want something not so dark for this one. So there will be no Deathstroke mentioned at all. Sorry. But you love me because I'm spontaneous! (P.S. I was aiming toward the shadow being Slade, but I have that figured out too, so you'll have to wait and see who it is at the end!)**

**DISCLAIMER: What I said in the last chapter. Except maybe this time, I pretend I own it and all of you have to disclaim it to me! MWAHAHA...**

* * *

Dick had been in the gym when Alfred had come in. For the first time in a while, he seemed flustered. His eyes wide, he managed to tell him to turn on the news. It was on a loop, like it always was for when the Pope died, or there was an assassintaion attempt. Only it was Vicki Vale again. Vaguely he wondered why she was all the way in Metropolis for some "non-lethal portal". But that wasn't really important. What had become the number one priority was finding out why his foster father was being repeatedly sucked into that same portal. Why they had to show it constantly he couldn't fathom. All that mattered was that he was going to be sick. He continued to watch anyway. He had to calm down and listen to what the reporter was saying, no matter how annoying she was.

_Breathe in, breathe out. Calm down. Breathe in, breathe out__. _

"-nd sources say that this could possibly lead to another dimension. Unfourtunately, when the anomally ocurred, I was too far to get anything solid, Mike. But as you see here, Batman seems to be trying to push Superman out of danger before they were both sucked in. Batman's colourful colleague is nowhere in sight. What will Robin do next? Will he be forced to take the Dark Knight's place as the sole defender of Gotham? For now, all that's certain is that the Dynamic Duo seems to be less duo and is going to need a lot of dynamic after this incident. This is Vicki Vale reporting live from-"

Dick didn't need to hear anymore. The news didn't know anything. He threw the remote at the plasma screen and didn't let his tears fall.

"You don't know anything!"

_Did she?_

* * *

The Team watched horrified as two of the Big Three were sucked like dust bunnies into a vacuum down the purple and blue rip. They were saying it was a rip between dimensions, but it should be impossible to tell seeing as though it vanished as soon as it had taken something with it. There was nothing there to study. Everyone ached with sympathy for the little bird they had gotten to know so well. What was Batman without Robin? Or in this case, Robin without Batman. Every time they interacted at the Mountain, it seemed as if they were having silent conversations that even a mind reader couldn't understand. There seemed to be a slight smile on the Boy Wonder's face with his mentor near. And now they were seperated for who knew how long.

Whatever the certain faults of their group, they were going to at least try to be there for Robin.

* * *

_"Who?"_

_Robin looked at him like he was an idiot. "Lex Luthor. Who else?"_

* * *

Robin was more confused than ever. First they know who he is, then they ask for someone who doesn't exist, and now they didn't even know who owned the city they were in? Definatlely one of hiss more strange cases. The Flyboy looked more angry than the man with a bat on his chest, but then again, ever since he appeared here, he hadn't shown one lick of emotion besides his eyes widening a little when he had first seen the Boy Wonder.

"Anyway, how about we discuss you guys? You obviously know who I am, which is pretty impressive considering even the cops haven't figured that out. But you guys? No clue. Cough it up."

The statue returned to his holo-glove. "I'm Batman and that's Superman. We're all introduced. Now to the point. We aren't from this universe."

Robin lifted an eyebrow. "You don't say."

Batman simply continued in a slightly frustrated voice. "We are from Earth Six and as far as I can tell, We were teleported to Earth 64. Care to fill us in on a little history?"

He looked up at the two adults and shrugged. _Why not? Who knows, maybe they aren't insane._

"I've never heard of any Wayne family around here, and I've been doing this for about a year and a half. Anyone with forty buck is usually mugged even on the nicest streets, so I doubt even if they did exist, they probably didn't last long. Long before the Circus came here, there were tales of how corrupt this city was. We still had a scheduled stop here, and had to perform. My parents were killed-"

"During their trapeze act that was already done without the safety of a net. When someone sabotaged the wires, your parents fell, but you survived because it had just been the part of the act where your mother reached for you, and you felt your hands brush right before they fell. This caused you unthinkable guilt and you became a vigilante to catch the killer and save others from your sorrow."

Robin tried not to be both angry and impressed and failed at both. "Yes." He ground out through his teeth. "Anyway, the reason everything so dirty and corrupt is because during a time of deep debt, the mayor allowed Lex Luthor to pay for the debt on the agreement that he would step down from his position and from that point Luthor pretty much controlled everything from the economy to politics, though they aren't very far apart in my opinion."

Batman looked up from his screen and smirked. "Something most people don't completely learn until they're thirty."

For some odd reason, his approval made him want to stick out his chest with pride. _Silly._

Superman looked pretty pissed.

Batman was serious before long. "Did you ever find out who did it?"

Dick looked down in shame. "Yes."

"So how do we get to Luthor?" Superman seemed to have calmed himself down enough to ask.

"Pffff. Ha! You wanna go toe to toe with Lex? Be my guest, but don't expect me to dig your grave for you."

Batman took control of the conversation again. "Are there Kryptonians here?"

Robin crossed his arms and leaned against a wall. "There are, but they've kinda kept to living on Krypton. Metropolis may be clean, but I haven't seen a Kryptonian set foot in Gotham since I've been here. Since no one's seen one for awhile, the stories have set them up as gods. I'm gonna take a safe bet that if one did find their way here, they'd be swarmed by a mob of followers. In fact, I sent a few of that particular occult's goons to Strange Asylum. Poor bastards are probably being used like lab rats, but I couldn't have them on the streets after so many attacks."

Superman was astounded. It was easy to see. The only other thing that could make it more obvious was if his mouth was hanging open.

Batman did a few more things on his (awesome) holo-glove. "He's right, Clark. Looks like you're an ambassador between Earth and Krypton. The planet never exploded. Your father is still a renowned scientist. But it looks like there's no Lois."

Big Blue closed his eyes in sadness.

Batman got down on one knee to talk to Robin on the same level. "So Hugo Strange opened an Asylum, where he uses patients as test subjects, Lex Luthor owns Gotham, and Bruce Wayne doesn't exist. What about the police force?"

He just rubbed his eyes through his mask. "Don't get me started. The captain, Calhoun is his name, he's the most rotten one of them all. Corrupt as can be. He's been trying to catch me for some time now. He doesn't know it's _me _persay, but he's searching for the one who has been ruining all his busts. They're really just cover- ups. He's been looking for something. I just don't know what yet. I sent some test samples of the drugs to see if there was something in them to a trusted analyst. He's the only good one I know, but he thought I was a cop, so who can say for sure. Johnathan Crane."

Batman seemed to be having a hard time swallowing that bit of information for some reason.

"I've been trying to keep a low profile, but I'm sure they'll come up on me sooner or later."

"Is there a cop named Gordon?"

Robin's face scrunched up in thought. "Not that I've heard. You might check your little glove there though."

Even though he couldn't really see it, he felt like Batman was giving him a pained look. Something about Robin bothered him. It was only a feeling *****. The older man was up and looking to Superman.

"We need a place to build a way back. A transdimensional device. Know of any place that has that kind of tech?"

"Mine. But let's make a deal."

"I'm all ears."

Robin's eyes narrowed and he pointed at Batman's hand. More specifically, his glove. "I give you the tech I have and help you build a portal, you show me how to make that glove."

"Not much of a ultimatum. It's a deal, kid." To enforce his annoyance to the poor boy, he ruffled his hair through the hood.

* * *

Bruce really did miss when Robin, _his_ Robin, had been young. Sure to some he still seemed that way, but not like he had been when he had started out. He still wouldn't trade the years together for anything, though. But the boy that led Superman and him to his hidden HQ was such a mixture between the Robin he knew and the qualities he himself had that it was almost painful. Something bothered him though. When he had asked about his parent's murderer, he had seemed ashamed.

_What had he done?_

They had reached their destination. At least, for the street. Robin pulled back a sewage cover with some difficulty. Without a look behind he jumped down. Clark gasped but a hand on his shoulder stopped him from trying to "save" him. The reporter gave him a look.

"Even if I don't exist, he's still an acrobat. Not to mention self-trained in God knows what. Not everyone needs help Clark."

Batman was the next to go down. Just as his partner-yet-not had done, he jumped. Superman could be heard grabbing the large metal cover while the other two waited. He floated down with ease and placed the cover back in its rightful place. A snap was heard in the pitch darkness and soon a white glow surrounded the trio. Bruce looked at the glowstick and then Robin.

"What? Flashlight is for emergencies only. These things are a lot cheaper than having to buy shitty batteries everytime I run out."

The older vigilante caught his tongue before he told the kid to watch his tongue. _He isn't Dick, _he reminded himself. _You don't even know if this kid's name is Dick._

They followed him through the dark on the narrow walkways of the sewers. The stench was awful. Much worse than even Batman could remember. When he noticed Superman's reaction (he kept himself stoic, as usual) he explained.

"Somebody must have put another body somewhere. I swear no one works in the sewers with the way they are kept up. I'll find it later and the stink'll die down. A little."

They walked in silence the rest of the way before he suddenly stopped. "Here we are. Hold on."

He moved a piece of what looked like the concrete wall where a small, frankensteined passcode pad. He typed in a few numbers.

"Voice verification please." The robotic female asked politely.

"M plus J equals R."

"Voice verification accepted."

The rest of the graffiti'd wall moved to reveal slightly rusted steel circular door. That opened to show the rest of the hideout.

Catwalks were in a maze above the heroes' heads; pieces of thick rope dangling down. Below the catwalks the base was a mixture of silver and blue pieces of random bits of technology. There were three counters like you would find in a lab, their drawers probably containing even more pieces of whatever scraps he could get. One counter was entirely dedicated to his weapons. Broken bird-a-rangs, a backup utility belt that was yellow instead of silver, some pellets that had leaked ink onto the countertop, and a spare bow staff. More tidbits were all crowded on, but they were less easy to identify.

The door closed behind them and Robin pulled down his hood. Running a hand through his hair, he sighed heavily.

"It's not much, but it's what I've got. We'll all go dumpster diving tomorrow, and have to thrift for some civvies for you. I can hit the storage bids alone while you check out what you can. It's going to be a challenge, so deal with it. Either of you don't like challenges, cry me a river. Let's get to work, shall we?"

Batman smirked for the second time that night at the boy. No matter what universe, Robin was still as Robin as ever.

* * *

**A/N: I hoped you liked it! I know some of you are kinda like:**

**"She's pretty flip floppity about the whole Slade thing"**

**And yes. I am. I'm also sorry to have had to go back on my word, but things just worked out like that. Please continue reading anyway! Review!**

**Both baby Robin and Bats: Weview!**

**Me: AAAAAAAAA! TOO MUCH!**


	4. Sadness, Anger, and in the End, Forgiven

**A/N: Next chapter! Exciting, huh?**

**DISCLAIMER: DC owns all. EVEN THE ENTIRE PLANET... JK. _OR IS IT?_**

* * *

Superman had been through more than one trip to another dimension. Not all of the worlds were pretty. But this one was probably one of the worst. Lex Luthor owned Gotham. He was the one who let this crime run rampant, forcing this poor young boy to take matters into his own hands. He couldn't even trust the cops! A look at the alternate Robin showed both he and Batman head to head over the middle counter of the three. They were talking in quiet tones that he could easily hear if he tried, but he was more intent on exploring the base.

Clark noticed that the boy had left a lot of open space. In the corner was a punching bag duct taped to hell. Even then there was a pile of sand in the corner. Floating over to it, he noticed that the sand had ground up sea shell. As every Bat tended to do, Robin didn't look up from what he and Bruce were working on but answered the unspoken question in Superman's mind.

"I got the sand from the beach. I ground it myself. It's got a lot more uses than filling up a punching bag, trust me."

This kid went all the way to the beach just for a punching bag. _Wow._

He floated up to the catwalks and saw piles of books neatly tucked away up there. One on the top was about self taught jiu jitsu, another on how to discipline the mind to the point of feeling no pain. A few more on different fighting styles. The book on the bottom of the first pile caught his special attention. Gently pulling it out, he saw the front and felt his heart ache.

_Family Memories_

It was a scrapbook. Clark found it both funny and sad that he found a few _Family Circus_ pictures cut out from the newspaper. But most of it was from him. The unmistakable stick figure drawings of a very small child of three people. Two dominated the page. One was blue and one was purple. They must have been his parents' favorite colors. The blue one was his mom (you could tell because of the hair and triangle dress), and the purple his father. In the middle of the two giants was a boy. He wore bright colors. A bright red top with green pants and green sleeves. Yellow rectangles went across the thin stick body. Clark assumed those were the straps of his circus costume.

There was more. Turning the page revealed a folded piece of paper that he unfolded. It was a poster of the Flying Graysons. Pretty much the same as the one he knew his Dick had. This time, instead of Haley's, it was Bailey's. Clark rolle his eyes at the similarity. He carefully put it back knowing it was most likely one of the last ones.

_Flip_

The next page was a picture of his family. His _entire_ family. The troupe of Bailey's circus all crowded in for one single photo with Robin in the middle, smiling like it was the best day of his life.

_Flip_

It looked like the boy was flying in the air. Like a robin. That was all that registered before the book was quickly taken from his hands. He hadn't even realized that he'd stopped flying and that he had sunk to the ground. A flushed boy glared at him from behind his domino mask.

"Didn't you ever learn that it isn't polite to snoop through other people's prized possessions?" Barely controlled rage came out with every word.

"I'm sorry Robin."

He didn't looked pleased in the least. "Whatever. Can't you go see if you're any use with Batman?"

Without waiting for a reply, he jumped up to the catwalk and pulled himself over the bars. Superman didn't move. Robin gingerly put the book back. When he still hadn't left that spot and the Boy Wonder looked up, the kid lost it a little.

"I said go!"

Even if it was only a few yards, it was distance Robin craved. So he went over to Batman. Even he seemed a little pissed at the Man of Steel.

"Clark, you're sorely tempting me to use the kryptonite..."

* * *

Robin was in no mood to talk to anyone. That big, blue _idiot_ had invaded his personal space. What if he had damaged it somehow? Or what if he ruined one of the pictures? He sat on the catwalk and glared into the back of Superman's head and wished for once that he had heat vision, like the Kryptonians did in the stories. He had pulled his hood back up in a show of seclusion. Sure Batman was a pretty good guy. Annoying, but good. He had actually missed someone ruffling his hair. After being alone for two years now, things got lonely. And he wasn't likely to get an affectionate gesture from any of the punks he beat up. Superman however, was a different matter. No way was he forgiving this trespass any time soon.

"Robin." It was Batman.

"What?" He snapped.

"Can I come up?"

It was the oddity of such a person as the stoic semi-stranger who had done nothing but interrogate and give orders since he saw him actually asking permision that caught him off guard.

_It **is**__ only Superman I'm mad at..._

"Fine. Not like I could really stop you."

Batman didn't respond. Instead he swung up and joined the boy.

"I know exactly how you feel."

Robin gave a mirthless bark of laughter. "Yeah. You and every other D- list shrink with a forged PhD."

"My name is Bruce. When I was eight years old, my parent were murdered in front of me. I was left holding their cold bodies in my arms until the police got there. They had to pry me away with the threat of being sedated. After years of training with the best, I came back to Gotham to kill the man who had so callously taken the lives of my parents. I took on the hero persona of Batman and searched for him. During the time I couldn't find him, I upheld justice and helped the police by beating up the punks that I could and stopping crime. They were frustrated with me for a long time."

Grayson looked to him with wide eyes, wanting to believe that he could understand the pain. He didn't dare speak any louder than a whisper. "Go on."

Batman had been staring straight ahead for the story, but turned to look down at him. Masked eyes clashed and he couldn't look away from the Bat.

"I didn't kill anyone. I was saving that for the murderer. When I finally found him, I beat him to a bloody pulp and had his neck in my hands." As if lost in the memory, he held up those same hands. "I wouldn't ever use a gun. Not when that's what had taken my parents from me. Besides, at the time, squeezing the life out of him was much more satisfying. But then I realized that there was only one thing in that moment that seperated me from him. He had taken lives. He was scum. He had had no right to do that. So neither did I. And I did the hardest thing I had yet to do in life."

"What?" This time it wasn't snappy.

"I let him go."

"Didn't you feel like a failure?" Robin voiced his concerns. This person had gone down the same path.

"No. Because I realized then that while my parents' death would always bring me pain, I was, in one respect, free. Why did _you_ let him go?"

"Because I could feel the weight of his life come onto my shoulders as it left him. My parents would have never wanted this for me."

Bruce gave a genuine smile. "Exactly."

Robin could feel his eyes mist. "What does this have to do with Superman?"

"Are you angry anymore?"

He gave a weak smile. "No."

* * *

**A/N: I know it was pretty short, but that's okay. I forgot to mention in the last one that the * next to It was just a feeling was because it's part of one of my favorite scenes of V for Vendetta. Those of you who caught that, good job! I hope you like reading this as much as I like reading it. I'm pretty sure Bats got a little OOC, but that's cool right? Also they kind of both start spouting really intellectual stuff near the end, but think about it this way:**

**If you came close to killing someone, even if you hated them with all your heart, how could you not be intellectual about it?**

**REVIEW!**


	5. Questions about the Universe

**Hello again! There's not much to say... Um... Enjoy? OH NO, THE RASHES ARE BACK!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own it. *sigh, then pauses for a moment*... *scratch***

* * *

Robin ran on the rooftops, doing little gymnastic stunts while he jumped from one to the next to keep him entertained. It was a slow night. Without Batman, he thought there would be criminals coming out of the woodwork, but apparently they were all biding their time.

At least, he thought so until all Hell broke loose.

Joker was robbing a bank across from Two-Face, who was robbing the jewelry store that was having it's second anual sale. Then he heard the police chatter say that Croc had just broken out and teamed up with Clayface. They were heading in Robin's direction.

_Perfect_.

He decided on Two-Face first. He grappled down and saw that he had most of his crew with him. And he thought this was a slow night?

Why did the universe love to prove him wrong?

* * *

He had done it. Somehow. Robin trudged, exhausted, to the nearest zeta tube. Two-Face had been pretty easy after his goons were taken care of. He was too easy to anticipate anymore. Dodge his first gun until he ran out of bullets, then while he whips out his second, take him down.

Joker was a different story. While he had been trying to get the loony unconcious, Croc and Clayface had finally reached his location. They had robbed somewhere on their way there, but they seemed more focused on the Boy Wonder with a clown at his feet. It went without saying that they took _forever_ to beat. Now he had a plethora of injuries, was severly limping, and desperately needed a shower.

He reached the derelict phonebooth and sighed as the light made his growing headache a little bit more painful. There had been worse crime sprees than this, but without Bats, they couldn't split up the work. It was all Robin. When he stepped out of the tube, the rest of the Team looked at him worriedly.

M'gann flew up to him. "Oh my goodness! Robin, are you okay? We were watching the Gotham news and you-"

Robin cut her off by holding up a dirty hand. "Not now, Miss M. I just need a shower and this was the closest zeta. Once I'm done, I'll be off."

The martian tried to protest, but he shook his head. Bits of hardened clay flew out and Wally gagged. Robin glared at his friend before limping off down the hallway to his spare room at the Mountain. It was a quick, five minute shower to get all the gunk off. Once he was out, he noticed a certain blonde archer in his room.

Blushing furiously, threw the towel he had been using to dry his hair at her. "What the hell, Arty?!"

Balling up the towel she threw it back at him. "It's not like you're naked." She pointed to the towel around his waist.

Thank God Batman had instilled paranoia in him and he had put his shades on in the bathroom. He moved his glasses up to pinch the bridge of his nose.

"But I _could_ have been! What do you want?"

Artemis smirked at his still flushed face, but soon grew serious. "Look, the Team unamimously agreed that we should help you in Gotham. None of think you can-"

He got pissed. "You think I can't handle it without Batman?"

"No. We think you can't do it alone. It doesn't matter who. This is the first day of Batman being gone and already you had to face four of his gallery. What about tomorrow? Or the next day?"

"I can do things by myself you know. I'm not the kid I pretend to be."

Artemis had a flash of hurt in her eyes before becoming beligerent. "Fine! Do your idiotic macho stunt! Just don't come crawling for help later!" She stormed out.

Robin glare at nothing while he got in his spare uniform. He walked out to see the Team watching the Gotham news again. He sighed and got in the zeta to head back into the fray.

* * *

Scarecrow had an entire mall hostage. Harley was out of Arkham with plans to get back at Robin for hurting Joker (this was more pesky than overwhelming). Poison Ivy was making people disappear. And Dick Grayson had an essay on the tibetan monks' lifestyle in the eleventh century due in twelve hours.

He would never take Bruce for granted again.

He started with Harley and Ivy. Harley was the easiest, and then it got a little harder with Ivy, who tried to use her pheremones on him. He didn't even want to think about how that worked out. He was just glad that they were back in Arkham and Ivy's victims were mostly unharmed. For civilians, they sure did pack a punch.

Next he went after Scarecrow. The hostages all had to go the hospital, and one got trampled. Scarecrow had shot most of his gas at the vigilante, leaving him twitching and forcing himself not to attack all the people that looked like Two-Face. He didn't have the antidote in his belt, so he had to walk to the zeta that lead to the Batcave. After injecting himself, he waited about twenty to twenty-five minutes while Joker killed Batman right in front of his eyes and his parents' mangled corpses screamed at him that it was his fault and asked him why he didn't save them.

When it finally did take affect, he headed straight upstairs and finished up his essay. Now all he had left was to go back out and fight endless more criminals. When he got up from the table where he had done his homework, his head swam and he would have fallen down if Alfred hadn't caught him.

"Master Dick, I suggest you get some rest before you harm yourself any further."

"I'm fine Alfred."

The Britishman raised his eyebrow in the way that was a sign not to push it. "You are not. You should take a small nap."

Too exhuasted to argue much more than that, he nodded his head. "Just a small one."

* * *

The next time he opened his eyes, it was broad daylight. Looking at his clock, Dick groaned.

His question had been answered by the universe.

_Yes, Dick, I do hate you._

* * *

**I hope you liked this chapter. I did it all of Earth Six Robin because I really wanted to show how tough it's going to be for him without Batman around. Next chapter I'm pretty set on it being all Earth Sixty-four, so be ready for some AU Robin and Batman dynamic!**

**REVIEW! IT'S THE ONLY WAY TO STOP THE RASHES!**


	6. Robin Faces a Demon

***scratches* I hope _your_ rashes are gone. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own it! **

* * *

Bruce was surprised that he had been right about his hunch. It had been a fifty/fifty shot on whether he had killed his parents' murderer. But something else was bugging him.

Why was Robin so trusting?

Anyone exposed to Gotham for more than a few months, specifically a vigilante, would have run and not trusted either of them. So why did Robin?

As he and Clark waited for him to come back from getting them civvies, he let this take over his thoughts. Even if this wasn't the Robin he had gotten to know, he still worried for him. His trusting nature would be his downfall. Clothes being tossed on one of the counters jolted him out of his ponderings.

Robin was wearing his normal clothes, showing Batman that this Robin's eyes were a light green. His hair was mussed and a frown marred his face.

"Hurry up and get dressed. There are communicators on the middle counter." He turned to leave, but quickly turned back. "And Supes?"

Clark looked up from the clothes on the counter. "Yeah?"

The boy's face darkened. "Stay out of my stuff, or I'll regret going out on a limb for you guys."

He blushed and nodded his head. "What made you take us in, anyway?"

Without emotion, he turned around and answered as he walked out. "Call it a hunch. Besides, if you really are nutjobs, it'll be fun to have two new punching bags."

Batman smiled at Superman's affronted look. The two heroes got dressed in silence. Once they were out, the door autimatically shut behind them. Bruce went up first, inhaling deeply at the fresh (well, as fresh as Gotham could be) air. Clark came up and closed the sewer pipe, while Bruce allowed himself to give a small laugh at the clothes he had recieved.

Without any trees nearby it was hard to tell, but he was pretty sure it was mid-Fall, making the air chilly. The kid had decided to get an oversized blue sweater that had been splashed with bleach a few times and jeans a little too tight that looked in relatively good shape except for a small stain or hole here and there.

Clark glared. "What's so funny?"

Bruce couldn't help his smirk. "Nothing, Kent."

He looked down at his own clothes, which weren't much better. The shirt was a better fit, but it was a ghastly pea green and had more than a few holes. While it didn't have any bleach stains, he did have what looked like an old ketchup stain. He hoped. The pants were comfy and stylishly ripped, but with the weather like it was, this left him a little cold. He had dealt with far worse tempatures, but not in ripped jeans and a thin longsleeved shirt.

As they walked to the dump, Bruce wondered if Robin would let _him_ pick out the clothes next time.

* * *

Dick Grayson walked in the daylight a little uncomfortable. It had been a while since he had walked around in normal clothes surrounded by normal people. He had been running low on supplies anyway, but after a month of spending the days in his base and the nights fighting criminals, it was a lot to get used to.

He entered the thrift shop and shivered. Most small shop owners had to wait until the middle of winter to start up their heaters, or else they would risk wasting money. The jacket he had bought back in his first month of vigilantism was a little constricting now, not to mention falling apart. Robin headed over to the electronic section of the small shop while finally noticing that there was no one in the shop. Weird.

Shrugging it off he looked through the large selection of worn cellphones and MP3s. There was even a radio on sale. A few moments of silence prevailed until there was a loud _BAM_ from a door being burst open with great force. Three people soon came from a back room, with two behind the store owner/clerk, one of them with a gun to the poor man's head. They didn't see Dick. They were too concerned with getting the man to open the register.

The acrobat flinched at the poor guy's face. They had obviously been beating him in the back room. The storeowner handed them the money, and Dick found something familiar in one of the thugs. Something was tugging at his memory...

"P-please, don't sh-shoot me. I have two girls. One's on-only three."

The one with the gun, the one that Dick knew somehow, smiled evily. "Oh, but Mr. Baxter, I've got orders from _my_ family. Sorry about your girls."

_BANG_

The sound rang in the child's ear for a moment. The toothpick in the gunmen's mouth shifted around as he moved it when he moved it with his tongue, and for some strange reason, that's what triggered Dick's memory. This was Victor Zocco. The man who killed his parents. And he was still killing people, people with _families_, after Robin had had the restraint to let him go. He snapped.

He was silent as he went after the small potato that was his partner.

He was going to enjoy this.

* * *

Bruce used the very poor communicator Robin had left for them. They had been at the dump for a little over an hour, and had yet to hear from him. They were actually doing well, considering they were looking for machinary capable of transdimensional transport in a junkyard.

"Robin? Batman to Robin, do you copy?"

Nothing. They had tested them earlier, so the communicators worked.

_Then why isn't he answering?_

He turned to Clark. "We've gotten enough for today."

* * *

Robin looked at the terrified, beaten man. He had started crying about five minutes ago, his nose running with blood and snot as he blubbered like a baby.

He kicked him in the chest. "Pathetic."

"Wh-what do you want? Money? I-I got money. Here." The scum shoved a wad of money, probably from the register, in his face. It was a feeble attempt. Dick didn't grab it, and soon bills fell out of Zocco's grip and landed on the floor.

"You don't remember me yet?"

His eyes widened. "S-sure, kid. Of course I do."

Dick narrowed his eyes; fisting his small hand in the criminal's hair. "I suppose that the face of a circus brat isn't that memorable."

"The Grayson's kid?"

Robin got out his sharpest bird-a-rang. "Mary and John! All you knew was that they were the biggest attraction! You didn't even bother to learn their first names! They had a child, and that child was supposed to be in the act! But you didn't think of that, did you Victor? Guess it's time for that to bite you in the ass."

He raised his hand high before swinging it down violently. The murderer's blood sprayed everywhere. Mostly on the small boy himself, but it didn't bother him. In fact, it felt rather good. It was warm and sticky, but it was Victor Zocco's. His throat was slashed to pieces and after a moment the gurgling sound he made stopped, but even as he stopped breathing, his eyes were still wide open.

Robin panted with exertion while an innocent, yet manic smile grew on his face. He had done it! His parents' death had been avenged. Crazed giggles escaped, confusing him.

When had he started laughing?

* * *

**Next chapter is going to be Bruce and Clark finding Robin like that, and it's going to be pretty heavy. It was a little cheesy in the beginning, but I did slip something important there that won't be important until later in the story. I've already said that I can't write something without it being dark, or a twist. Batman and Robin had a talk about not killing their parents' killer, where I'll admit there would be a bit of confusion on **

**1.) Why they had the talk in the first place if Robin just ended up killing him**

**2.) How he so drastically changed from saying that he knew his parents didn't want that for him to cold bloodedly killing him without regard to his parents**

**The talk was put there because it was a bonding moment. Also to show the reason he snapped so easily in this chapter. He had let the guy go, and he had just continued to kill people and break up families. That's gotta weigh pretty heavy on your concious.**

**Like I said in the story, he snapped. He had been tormented by what Victor had done to him since his parents had fallen. He was also disturbed by the fact that he let him go. Even if, at the time of the talk, he admitted it wasn't the right thing to do, when you're out of your mind with guilt and grief at seeing the person you let go murder a father, you aren't really gonna be thinking of stuff like that.**

**Also the circus brat part, I got from Sweeney Todd.**

**Review and tell me what you think! (P.S. this review thing doesn't have a gag because the whole Robin murdering someone thing has got me a little down and I can't think of anything to lighten the mood.)**


	7. Guess Who

**I got a lot of good reviews excited for this chapter, so I just hope I can deliver!**

**Disclaimer: I did not, do not, will not on a boat... own DC.**

* * *

It was the strangest feeling. Bruce felt as if the world hinged on how fast he was able to get to Robin.

_There's nothing wrong..._

And yet there was. He needed to hurry, and he didn't even know why.

But he did when he finally got there. The poor kid sat giggling and crying in a large pool of his victim's blood. The other mobster looking guy was out but not dead (as far as he could tell), but there was another body on it's own. A single gunshot to the head. He had been beaten pre-mortum. But the corpse by Robin was much more savage. He, too, looked to have been beaten. but much worse than the other. His throat was slashed multiple times to the point where it was almost too much to look at. Money soaked up some of the red fluid next to Robin's feet.

"What in the world..." Clark muttered with a myriad of emotions reflected in his voice. All emotions coursing through Bruce at that moment.

Slowly, so as not to scare the obviously terrified boy, he walked towards him. Everything he did was deliberate and slow. When he laid a hand on his shoulder, Robin still jumped. Turning to face the Dark Knight with eyes filled with tears and the smile wearing off, he saw just how crushed and afraid Grayson was.

"What have I done?"

He found himself answering truthfully. "I don't know."

* * *

Something must be wrong with him. He remembered everything of course. The rise and fall of his arm as more and more blood spewed forth, the sick, gurgling noise that came from his victim, and the final exhale of a now deceased man. But something must be wrong with him because for the life of him, he couldn't remember the guy's name anymore. He had killed his parents, yes. But what _was _his name? New tears started to flow and join old. He had just slashed a man's throat to ribbons and he couldn't even remember his name.

A voice shook him out of his thoughts.

"Robin, the police will be here any second. We've got to move."

Like a robot, his mind computed what he heard and made his head nod towards Batman.

_No, _whispered something inside him, _his name is Bruce, remember?_

And he still couldn't recall the sleeze's name even though he could this (supposedly) interdimensional man. Even as they ran, Robin didn't know where, all he could think of was that perhaps it had started with a "Z".

* * *

**A pretty short one for OWaW I know, but hey, admit it, you liked the tingle you got with the way it ended. I got so many good reviews over all my stuff, and I figured that this random moment was perfect to thank you all personally. At least, as personal as you can get on the internet. Thank you!**


	8. Procrastination

**So I would love to start out by saying that I really appreciate all the reviews I've gotten on not just this story, but my others as well and that I'd be nothing without you guys! This is another Earth Six chapter (I know you want more au Robin and Bats, but that's why you hate me!) and I just wanted it to be clear that I know that YJ is placed in Earth Sixteen, but my favorite (and the general use one) is Earth Six, so I just put YJ there. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: Mission Impossible would be easier than owning DC.**

* * *

The Team had done nothing but watch the news. The entire time Robin regrouped at the Mountain (staying in the Manor just made his heart ache) they watched nothing but the recap of last night's events. Firefly had drawn him out by setting an office building on fire. There were some serious injuries, but so far, they were pulling through. The civilian who had bee trampled didn't make it.

M'gann looked worriedly at the bird that they shared the couch with at the moment. He could see it from the corner of his eye while he leaned back and tried to relax. He winced as his entire back gave a twinge of pain. He was going to have to see with Alfred about seeing a massage therapist. Deciding that doing nothing wasn't his style, he got out a bat-a-rang and started cleaning his steel toed boots.

Robin probably should have been paying attention to the news and his teammates reactions. Artemis, though she grew up in Gotham, didn't fight there, and her mask fell to show worry. Wally just gave a sympethetic glance in his direction. M'gann had looked away from Robin, but still kept her (what had transformed into) scared expression. Superboy was pouting, but the dangerous pout he used when he was upset. Kaldur was calm.

While the unconcerned vigilante scraped gunk out of his boots, the rest watched him fight Firefly with much different tactics than they had seen on their numerous missions. He was silent and dangerous when fighting. Even Vicki admitted that it was slightly different from the norm. Firefly was actually finished in no time at all. No doubt he was one of the lesser threats of the gallery. The feed went fuzzy when someone apparently hacked the feed. A very green, question mark clad man with a cane appeared on screen.

"Dear Gotham, it is I! Edward Nigma! You purile brained imbeciles are no match for my..."

He went on for a while, rambling on without really getting to the point. Suddenly _that_ frequency was hacked and the screen went fuzzy again. After a moment, it returned to a surprised reporter.

"Hey, guys? Where's Robin?"

* * *

Alfred was angry. That was enough to make even Batman quake in his boots.

It didn't help that he was glaring at Robin's side which he was currently stitching. He knew Alfred didn't like when he went out solo, but with Bruce gone, Gotham would go to Hell without him fighting. Riddler had been easy, but Query and Echo were a little more difficult. All three were back in custody without the public even knowing why he broke out.

"Master Dick, I would rather you not force me to stitch you anymore this week. I've done it six times already. You really should take a break."

His masked eyes widened. "Alfred, if I take a break, Gotham will pay for it. Maybe tomorrow."

The long time butler and friend raised an eyebrow. "Must I remind you that that is exactly what you said yesterday?"

Guilty, he blushed. That was indeed what he had said yesterday. But he couldn't afford a break with the entire gallery out thinking Gotham was their playground!

As Alfred put away the disinfectant and thread, Robin looked around for a fresh costume.

"You know Master Dick, you could always spend more time with your new team. Let them help you." There seemed to be a sadly hopeful tone to his suggestion.

His eyes narrowed as he dressed. "Alfred, there are no other costumes allowed without permission from Bruce. Besides, they don't know how we operate, so I'm better of alone until he gets back."

The old man sighed. Robin had a feeling that it was out of disappointment.

_He probably thinks I'll end up dark and brooding like Bruce._

Well, Dick couldn't stand to see the man who had become like his grandfather disappointed.

"Alright, Alfred. _Maybe._ Just maybe I'll see if they can help out. But if they do in they get in the way, I'm pinning it on you with bail of some of your cherry scones with honey glaze. Deal?"

"Yes Master Dick. It is a deal."

* * *

He really was on his way to contact the Team. But Jervis had pushed his hand when some of his mind controlled goons tried to grab him for a tea party.

Well, he couldn't just leave the nutjob loose, now could he?

So after finishing the measely goons off, he interrogated one (only after removing the chip, obviously) of the goons. They pretty easily spilled their guts.

"Th-the guy's at some weird hat factory. It was abandoned."

Robin let his boot press harder on his throat.

"Where?" He growled.

"I d-don't know!"

He sighed. This just wasn't getting easier for him. Putting on his best Batman act (which was pretty good in his opinion), he pressed down only a little on the man's throat. Anymore and he wouldn't be able to speak.

"What did it smell like?"

The thug looked confused despite the pain of having his throat crushed. "W-what?"

"The smell. Now."

"U-uh, gas and baking bread."

"Good enough." He knocked out the muscle with pride. He had gotten the information without the Team or Bats.

He'd contact the Team after he got done with Hatter.

* * *

"If everyone minded their own business, the world would go around a great deal faster than it does." The Mad Hatter quoted while a squad car shoved him in the backseat.

"Yeah, yeah ya loony. We know."

The police drove off and Robin smiled from his perch on top of the old hat factory. Surprisingly enough, only two hat production plants were close to a bread shop, and one of them was still in business. The other had suffered a fire started by arson. Jervis had broken out a few days ago it seemed. His plan had been to reunite with his lost love Alice and steal her away. Apparently, the vigilante had been invited to the tea party to be kept out of the way while his "host" got away with his former secretary.

Now that that was over, it was time to call in his friends and ask for help. It did take a hit towards his pride, but he really did need help. Just as he raised his arm to his ear, the Bat Signal went up and Robin sighed. Jim obviously needed his help.

As he grappled toward the GCPD building he sighed. Alfred was going to kill him when he got back.

* * *

**So next chapter is obviously going to be some AU Robin and Batman. Mostly I wrote this chapter as Earth Six was because I'm a little lost on how to pick up on the other side of this story. I really like the idea of Robin struggling on his own and the trio splitting up, at least for a while. I got a review about how I made him so trusting in the beginning and just letting them into his life, and I completely get that. But it has to do with the shadow, so I'll just reveal what exactly was going on in the epilogue. And also I just wanted to cut straight to a small amount of Bats and Robin-yet-not-his bonding. There wasn't much, but it's supposed to be the idea that Batman just automaticallly associates this Robin with his Robin.**

**Sorry for rambling!**

**Me: Re-**

**Penguin from BTAS: Mwahaha! They'll never review!**

**Me: *raises brow skeptically* And why is that Oswald?**

***Penguin trasforms into the Batman Returns version***

**Penguin: Because I am a terrible portrayl of a good character! A waste of a good story idea! Mwahahaha!**

**Me: NOOOOOOOO! REVIEW AND CHANGE HIM BACK TO THE BIRD HE WAS!**


	9. Enjoy the Silence

**Another chapter! Are you ready to be disturbed?**

**Disclaimer: Nope.**

* * *

Clark Kent had seen death. Metropolis was a good city, true, but no city was without crime. But he had never seen such brutality. He couldn't get the image of the poor man's throat out of his mind as he set down the items they had found at the dump on the counter of Robin's base. As soon as the door had opened, the little vigilante had rushed straight to a bucket that served as the trash can.

Robin's vommiting made the Man of Steel wince.

Batman had stayed silent the entire time; his face a blank slate with no emotion. He knelt beside the sick boy and rubbed circles on his back. The two stayed there for what seemed like forever. To the trio, every second was a minute and every minute was an hour.

Clark Kent had seen death. But what he had seen in that shop was not death.

It was a young boy's anguish.

* * *

Bruce shouldn't have let the thought cross his mind.

It would just pollute his judgement and he knew from experience that that never led to anything good. But he still thought it. An inescapable thought; a torment created by none other than himself. It circled round and round like a song that gets stuck in your head and repeats itself unendingly. It wasn't even true, but it was there.

Robin hurled and he comforted him by rubbing circles on his back. His frame was so small and frail. Like a sparrow's fragile form.

Or a robin's.

Though the forefront of his mind humming like a machine in detective mode, the back became reserved for that one thought and it alone. Teasing, it interrupted his deduction process more than once. Even if he comforted the small child, it was out of reflex than volountary action.

Again, the thought appeared.

_Your son is a murderer._

* * *

He remembered the name.

He remembered everything.

But that didn't make him any less ill. His whole body shook uncontrollably while he gave up the food from yesterday that had yet to be digested. The blood had dried and he no longer liked the feeling of it. Instead of warm and sticky, it was cold and crusty. He desperately wanted a shower.

He wanted his parents.

Tears threatened to blur his vision and overflow, but if a year and a half of crime fighting in Gotham had taught him anything, it was the reflex of choking down those tears. A large, warm hand rubbed circles on his back; soothing him. Not wanting it to leave, he allowed himself to lean over the bucket a moment longer. Something about the large man comforting him felt right.

And yet everything was wrong. Wrong, wrong, wrong. He had killed someone. Someone he had let go before. Now everything felt empty and useless. This scared Robin. The only way he knew to combat this fear was to fight; to be angry.

Besides, it was easier to convince himself that fighting could fill the new void than to face the reality that nothing could.

* * *

**Yes! It was short! I'm sorry, but I can honestly say I think this chapter might be the best way to segway back into the story after something so traumatic happened. Tell me what you think in the reviews!**


	10. What Happened?

**This will be another AU chapter. Be warned, I've never had to segway back into a rhythmic story after such a traumatic event. Usually, it would be a drabble and would have just ended with him killing the murderer of his parents. So in short, this might be a terrible chapter, but I really wish that you stay with it.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own any share in DC Comics.**

* * *

The silence had gone on. Finally, Batman broke it.

"Robin. Tell me exactly what happened. I can't help you if you don't tell me something."

It took a moment, but he finally did speak up. "Bruce, how did you let him go? The man that killed your parents?"

Of course, he was shocked. _That's _who that man had been? Tony Zucco? Or, at least, this world's version.

"I told you already. You're avoiding telling me what happened. I'm going to assume the man in the store was who killed your family?"

The little boy nodded solemnly, his head down. Quickly it shot up and tears shone in his eyes. "I lost it! It's not my fault! Please, Bruce I-"

A choked sob escaped him; one he clearly tried to quell. No doubt something he had taught himself to do after so much time with the scum of Gotham. In either world, to show weakness in front of your enemy was your death. Even though he tried to remain objective, Bruce felt his heart tug.

_This is not your Robin. This is not even your world!_

Yet the heart wants what the heart wants, and right now his stone heart was begging him to hold the boy and reassure him that everything would be okay tomorrow.

_But everything is **not** going to be okay. This boy, he could have been like your Dick. Your Dick could have become a murderer. _**_This _**_boy is a murderer! Are you going to let that stand?_

"Tell me. What? Happened?"

The obviously struggling Robin managed to calm himself enough to answer Batman, who was growing more irritated by the minute.

"I r-really was looking for parts. I had been running low on supplies," he had to take a break because of another sob. "Then they c-came out of the back room. I thought I recognized h-him from somewhere. I-I...!"

He couldn't contain anymore. He was still a little boy, even if criminals were starting to fear him. Large, broken sobs filled the small HQ. Clark floated up to Bruce and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Give him a break, Bruce. I know it's tough but-"

"You know nothing! You're son didn't-" Batman stopped himself. If he continued to think like he was, it might be hard to leave this world and return to his real son, who was no doubt overrun with criminals. By the look Superman was giving him, he had the same thoughts.

"He shot him!"

The sudden outburst came as a shock to the two heroes. Robin's face was as red as his puffy eyes. There were still tears, but he appeared to have gained some semblance of calm.

"Batman, the shop owner h," a sharp intake of breath broke up the word, "ad two daughters. An-and Zocco shot him anyway!"

_Zocco?_

"After you let him go." Bruce said slowly. It made some more sense now. It wasn't right, but it made sense.

"He smiled when he did it!"

His face darkened. "That doesn't exactly excuse anything, Robin. Lets see what we have so far and get started on the device. The sooner we're out of here the better. Tomorrow Clark and I will go out. As of now, you'll be under constant observation."

The acrobat looked even more broken than before somehow. He simply nodded and didn't fight it; even attempt to fight it. He clambered tiredly from the counter he had been seated and went up to what Bruce guessed was his safe haven in the catwalks.

_Flip..._

_Flip..._

_Flip..._

* * *

Superman was shocked. He knew that if Bruce wasn't able to keep objective, it usually ended badly for the offending party, but he never knew that his friend could be so cold to an obviously suffering child.

There was certain deep sorrow around that boy that wasn't around the Robin he knew. Clark figured that he kept a happy front up in front of the Team, but he knew that there were genuine moments of happiness in his life. For this lost child, there seemed no such moments. His life had been one had been a huge downward spiral that had ended in this traumatic day.

Bruce _must _have come to the same conclusion, so why had he been so cruel? Was it because he just didn't want to see any version of Robin as a killer? Or simply because he had gone into "mission mode"?

Whatever it was, it had to change. Robin had had enough heartbreak for _two _lifetimes.

Any more, and a certain reporter feared that he might break permanently.

* * *

**Like I said at the top, you probably didn't like this chapter for two main reasons that I can think of:**

**1.) It was short**

**2.) There was no AU Robin POV**

**The second one can be explained. I wanted you guys kind of in the dark about what was going on in Robin's head because this is kind of a Batman centered chapter and how he deals with (like Supey said) _any _version of Robin being a killer. Robin is still a very important piece, no denying, but this chapter couldn't really use a Robin POV. It's nice for a change to just hear what he's doing than to actually go through his head and thoughts.**

**And a lot of my chapters can be short so pardon my rudeness, but get over it.**


	11. Consequences

**I should probably explain that for this story, I'll try very hard (always is a promise, and I don't make those lightly) to keep to a pattern. Two chapters centered in Earth 64, one in Earth 6. So pretty much a ratio of 2:1. Meaning that this is...?**

**Annoyed group of readers: GET ON WITH THE STORY!**

**Me: *grumble grumble***

**Disclaimer: I've tried a Kryptonian piggy bank, a check that was really just a dream, and buying PJs at my local Walmart. I'm totally screwed.**

* * *

Of all the crime fighting that had been going on, Dick had never thought once of school. Every single week day was grueling beyond measure as he struggled to stay awake and keep from showing the pain of his various injuries. Without Bruce around, there was no one but Alfred to call him in. And if Dick knew Alfred, he wouldn't. Not out of spite, but out of the semblance of normalcy. With Bruce Wayne not making any public appearances as of late, they couldn't risk any more suspicion.

He was stretched too thin. It was obvious to anyone who took the time to even glance at the poor boy. He was pale as a ghost and thin. Much thinner than before the weekend. School would give him time for food at last, but there hadn't been when the villains ran free. He was about ready to drop, and it would send tongues a-waggin' if he did it at school. There were a few of his classes that were shared with Artemis, but he couldn't confide in her. Bruce had specifically told him not to unnecessarily reveal his secret identity. Though Dick wasn't one to be ordered around like a brainless idiot, he knew Bruce had his reasons, and Dick would know when the time was right to come out about the other half of his life to the Team.

But that still left him alone and running on empty.

He was just getting ready to leave at the end of the day, practically rushing through the process at the prospect of his nice, soft bed. Just thinking about it made him sigh. Until the jocks blocked with his path. He _really _didn't want to do this right now. With his tentative control over his instincts, he could snap at the thought of danger. Then what would happen? Everyone would get nosy on how the wimpiest boy in school could have taken on the jocks. It really wasn't worth it, and he really didn't have the time for it either.

"Look. It's Dicky Bird, strutting around like he owns the place. I haven't punched you in too long, it seems."

Truthfully, he was limping. He had tried to mask it throughout the day, but has he had to climb more and more stairs and get to class quickly, he found that it was nigh impossible. The jocks just used any excuse they could think of to cause him trouble.

"I don't want to fight. Look, I'm not bothering you, so why don't we just rain check?"

The lead jock's face, Brian, contorted. "Don't you go ordering me around, pipsqueak! Get him!"

When compared to the world's craziest villains and ultimate masterminds, high school bullies were idiots at fighting. Even Joker could fight better without his knifes, and when he didn't have the upper hand, that clown was kind of a chicken shit. (Dick silently apologized to Alfred at this thought)

Dick knew that if they tried anything, his alter ego would kick in, and there wasn't anything he could do. Brian's cronies grabbed his arms, and he struggled with his irritation and the vigilante inside dying to get some revenge.

He heard the fist coming before he saw it. Like a snake, he quickly got his arm out of the ridiculous hold and grabbed the meaty club. Dick sighed inside.

On the outside, Robin smiled.

* * *

Alfred looked angrily at the young ward. He, in turn, shyly smiled up at Alfred. He was in serious trouble. Outside the school after two hours of clearing up what happened with the three boys now heading to the hospital.

"Master Richard, you know that this will cause too many questions. You probably knew that before you injured those boys, and yet you foolishly did it anyway."

Dick sighed resignedly as his body wavered and swayed. The rest of Alfred's scolding would have to wait, because in that moment, Dick collapsed.

* * *

**Really friggin' short, I get it. But I kind of have a limited amount of time here at the library before I head home, so I couldn't really do much more. I know you guys probably hate me for having to wait and me only giving you this, but I'll try extra hard to give you more next time.**

**REVIEW AND MAYBE THE BUG ON MY COMPUTER WILL GO AWAY!**


	12. A Change of Plans

**Honestly, I'm somewhat starting to like writing the Earth Six Robin more. But only because this earth is so damn hard to write. I actually have a poll for you lovely readers, so be ready to vote. I have a prequel in mind for this one, and I have a tie on titles, so whatever one appeals to you the most and gets the most votes will be the official title.**

**1.) Robin: Year One**

**2.) The Fall**

**3.) Soiled Dove, Perfect Robin**

**4.) Your own suggestion. Know that I _will _take them into account.**

**Disclaimer: I still don't own, but try back tomorrow...**

* * *

There was utter silence except for the sound of Bruce working on the device. Grayson let his tears fall quietly, not so much as a shuddering breath. His world was closing in around him. His mind was unraveling, and the worst part was that he was fully aware of it. It didn't mean he wouldn't keep fighting the good fight.

Robin just didn't know what the good fight was anymore. He was lost. Drowning in confusion and despair with no one to pull him out. Bruce hated him now.

He hated _himself_. There was nowhere for him to go. The circus had tried to keep him there, but there had been no doubt who would win the boy in the end. A small circus vs. Lex Luthor and his goons in the government? Place your bets now.

He had just seen his parents fall from two stories, was turned to the system, and tortured by the bullies in juvie. He had been a ticking time bomb for months now. He wanted to run away, like he had run away from the center, but he couldn't run away from himself.

"Hey."

Superman. Disappointment trickled through him. Wiping his face, he looked to see him floating there. Robin then did something completely uncharacteristic of himself from the past year and a half and patted the spot next to him. In this moment of weakness, he would gladly take Superman. Big Blue sat down next to him and waited in silence. When Grayson didn't say anything, he started.

"Don't worry about Bruce. He gets this way sometimes, but after he's done being an ass, he really is a good guy. How about I tell you a secret. But you have to make sure you don't tell Batman I told you."

Robin rolled his eyes. "I'm not eight anymore; you could just tell me."

"He has a Robin, like you. Only, this one had him, so he didn't..."

His eyes narrowed. "Kill someone?"

Superman sighed. "Yeah. He's a little older too. But the reason Bruce is being all uptight is probably because he doesn't like thinking that any version of someone as close as Dick could do what you did. But it will get better."

"It's not like your staying. I don't need things to get better."

Grayson pulled up his hood and jumped down. Some patrol should cool him down and let out some aggression.

* * *

Bruce sighed. It was going to be rickety, dangerous, and difficult as hell to complete with his limited cash supply. For now all he could do was patrol and let off some steam. Looking up from the small, semi completed machine, he noticed a certain missing member. Superman was up in the catwalk, but Robin was nowhere to be seen.

"Clark, where's the boy?"

His colleague got down slowly and glared at him.

"What?"

"That boy is in pain. He is alone in this rotting city, and you're not helping with his feelings of abandonment!"

Batman scoffed. "You're a psychologist now?"

The reporter shook his head and growled. "You don't need to be a psychologist to know the kid's going to end up a killer or crazy; maybe both. We need to take him with us."

He was shocked, yet not. It was in Clark's nature to be open and trusting.

"He's already a killer. There is no way we're taking him with us. Besides, what happens to the city with him gone?"

"This city never deserved him in the first place! It'll crumble with or without him. Why you think a ten year old boy can protect an entire city-"

"I don't! But no matter how many times we've been transported to other dimensions, we've never taken anyone back."

"Well their's a first time for everything. Or wasn't it _you_ that said there's always a way?"

Bruce didn't answer as he strode out of the base and headed up to the city above. Patrol had always helped him think things out before. He was just lucky he landed in a universe with even more scum than his own. It wasn't long before he spotted a certain boy staking out a wharf out at the nearby docks. Resisting a sigh, he decided it was now or never.

"What's happening?"

Robin jumped and looked behind him to see the towering vigilante. Slowly returning his attention back to the small building, he made no move to make room for Batman.

"What's it to you? Your leaving, like everyone else around here. There should be no reason to try and beat up some dumb ass thugs."

Once again Bruce had to resist telling him to watch his mouth. For an alternate dimension, he and Dick sure did sound alike.

"Well, there's been a little hiccup in planning. If things go the way Clark wants them to, then we'll being taking an extra with us."

"Extra?"

Batman smirked. "You. And as long as you agree with leaving this city behind, and as long as you live with me under observation, I see no reason-"

And then something happened that neither thought ever would. Robin hugged him.

* * *

**I know this chapter moved _really _fast, but I don't know... I feel it should be done in a few chapters. It's been a long while since I've updated this one, but hopefully this was enjoyable.**

**Review! **


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